Unfortunately for the Earth, a white Christmas is not a green Christmas. According to Green Christmas by Jennifer Basye Sander and Peter Sander, household waste increases 25% between Thanksgiving to New Year’s, adding 1 million tons of waste to landfills per week! Besides waste, Christmas is a time for increased energy consumption and carbon emissions from travel as well.
Using the idea that every little bit helps, I thought it would be nice to post easy green ideas to celebrate the holiday season starting with the easiest option… reuse. Okay, so you don’t have to re-gift … unless you want to. But using items you already own to decorate for the holidays and wrap gifts is not only good for the environment, it saves money too. If you’re sick of your decorations, have a decoration swap with your neighbors. Every one can get new stuff without impact on the Earth or spending money.
Re-use old wrapping paper and gift bags to wrap presents. Use your creativity to dress them up and make them festive. Other items that can be re-used for gift delivery are fabric, baskets, and other containers.
